ODM to begin grassroots elections in April

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party is set to start its grassroots elections in April.

According to a notice on Thursday’s dailies, the elections come following the successful polling unit elections conducted on November 27, 2024.

The National Elections Coordinating Committee (NECC) said the sub-branch (Ward) elections will take place on Monday, April 7.

The exercise will be carried out at designated centres across the 47 counties.

“Branch (constituency) elections will be held on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at designated centres across the 290 constituencies nationwide,” NECC said.

A total of 77 party officials will be elected at the sub-branch and branch levels across four committees.

The committees include mainstream, women’s league, youth league and disability league.

NECC noted that the mainstream positions include chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary, deputy secretary, treasurer, deputy treasurer, organising secretary and deputy organising secretary.

There are also the positions of secretary for women, secretary for youth, secretary for disability and special interest group representative.

Further, eight additional officials will be designated as committee members.

The positions in the leagues include chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary, deputy secretary, treasurer, deputy treasurer, organising secretary and deputy organising secretary.

There will also be 11 additional committee members.

NECC said the elections will be conducted through consensus or voting by a show of hands.

The April voting will take place between 10 am and 2 pm on the respective election dates.

NECC stated that only delegates elected at the polling unit level will be eligible to participate as voters or candidates.

It warned that the delegates who have not paid the Sh100 fee for the polling unit level will not be eligible to participate in the sub-branch elections.

To apply for the elections, the eligible polling unit delegates can use the party app via the link https://odmgrassroots.mobifin.com/ward_aspirant_registration.php, or by the USSD *483*036#.

The route will be used for the eligible delegates looking to take part in the sub-branch elections.

The applications for the elections will open on Thursday, March 20, and close at midnight on Monday, March 31, 2025.

The eligible sub-branch delegates, can apply for branch positions via the party app through the link https://odmgrassroots.mobifin.com/constituency_aspirant_registration.php, or use USSD *483*036#.

NECC emphasised that all aspirants for sub-branch positions (except the chairperson) will pay Sh200, while the chairperson will pay Sh500.

“All non-executive positions at the branch level, as well as positions for women, youth, disability and special interest/ marginalised group representatives, will pay Sh500,” the Committee said.

All executive positions at the branch level, except the chairperson, will part with Sh1,000 while the chairperson will pay Sh5,000.

The payments are to be paid via ODM Paybill No: 985900, then indicate the position applied for as the account number.

NECC said after the elections at the sub-branch and branch levels, the presiding officer will announce the results, upload them to the party app and handover the results template to the returning officer.

In case of any election dispute, any aggrieved member may file a complaint within 12 hours of the results declaration via the party app.

The complaint fee is Sh15,000 for sub-branch elections and Sh30,000 for branch elections.

The payment can be done via ODM Pay-bill No. 985900.

NECC encouraged ODM members to read and acquaint themselves with the guidelines for grassroots elections.

“The Party Primaries, Nominations and Election Rules handbook can be downloaded from the Party website: www.odm.co.ke,” it said.

The Committee urged members to verify their membership details via dialing *483*036#.

“In order to guarantee a credible process, we urge our party members to continously engage the National Elections Coordinating Committee (NECC) for any clarifications via: email: neb @odm.co.ke. Phone: 0757242495,” ODM said.